Lucas' bear

A childhood friend of mine had a request...

To make a bear out of an infant 0-3 month sleeper.

Not one to back away from a challenge, I accepted.

Meet the bear.

It was a side zipper onesie with this on the stomach.

I had considered putting this on the belly of the bear, 

but the belly pattern has two darts, one on top and one on the bottom. 

I didn't want the top dart to go into the Tigger face. 

Turns out, it probably would have been okay.

Accompanying the outfit was a knitted hat and mittens. 

The hat of the bear is from the mitten. 

I wet it, stretched it out and put a pompom on top.

I unraveled the second mitten and knit the scarf.

The bear pattern comes from  Abby Glassenberg's book,

Stuffed-Animals-From-Concept-Construction

I LOVE this book. I love her patterns.

The lesson with this pattern is joints.

The best part?! The neck is jointed to the body!

No fiddling with sewing the head on.

I LOVE it.

But alas, my doll joints were too big for the arms and legs, 

so I had to use button joints. 

The eyes are safety eyes with a felt circle on the back. 

The little eye brow did a lot in giving him a little personality.

I am looking forward to making this bear again, but with an enlarged pattern.

It will be made from her late father's corduroy blazer.

That will be fun, with proper jointed arms and legs.

This is a wee one to be sure.

Hope all is well and cosy where you are.

We finally have a bit of winter here today.

Cold temps and all.

Bunnies!

Last year, I made this guy

Check him out here

And this past month, I made a girl.

(please excuse these photos. 

New cell phone camera, pressed for time and space and no chance for retake)

I did enjoy making her and her reversible dress.

So much so, I made another boy too! For a wee baby and his bigger sister.

 It was so lovely to sew for me! Something that wasn't mittens. 

I spent the day adding details, revelling in the hand stitching because I had the time to do it.

Do you like them? You can make your own.

Bunny pattern can be found in Abby Glassenberg's book

Stuffed Animals

Ciao,

Amanda

A few custom orders

Sorry, this is a post to show customers their products for approval.

But hey, it's also a show and tell...

I call this one "Chick on a scooter" I MUST get more of this fabric. I have a tea pot cozy in this fabric available for sale also. The bag is sold.

 Dog puppet. Or as my daughter says, "it can be whatever they want it to be" 

Yes, yes it can.

 Maisie doll. In non-traditional girlie colours

 A new hand puppet. A little lamb.

So there you go.

A few more orders to do in the next few days. 

Loving the challenge.

Ciao,

Amanda

Stella the Owl

I bought a new pattern from Abby at While She Naps.

I've bought quite a few patterns from Abby over the past year and I have to say, 

again, they are fabulous! Here are a couple:

Owl Lovey

Beastie Bag

This time, I bought Stella the Owl. It's going to be my go to baby gift. I didn't really have a designated one before, this is it.

A friend was overdue so I sewed one up in non-gendered colours. 

 The day after I finished, she had her baby girl! So I sewed this one up for her instead.

 I love the little bitty owl nesting in mama's wings. I love that the wings are not stuffed. I love that the inside of the wings are the same as the main fabric.

  I've said it all before, but it bears repeating! Abby's pattern writing is very clear and the pictures are a great aid in sewing it all up. I bought her new book Stuffed Animals. I look forward to spending some time learning as I go with her detailed patterns. Each pattern teaches a new design element. When I get to the end of that book, I'll know I can conquer anything in the sewing world of softies!

To go along with the baby gift, I'll be sending these itty bitty baby socks! Aren't they adorable?

They're from Stephanie at The Knitty Gritty Homestead. She had a giveaway some time ago and I won. Her mom made these teeny thangs. About size 0-3 months. I love them so much, I think I need to knit some for my own stash. See, inspiration is everywhere. And so is leftover sock yarn!

Ciao,

Amanda

Owl lovey

I've talked before about making things from the amazing Abby Glassenberg.

Here is the bear beastie bag, duck bag, caterpillar and butterfly and chick and egg reversible toys that I've made before. I even adapted the chick and egg pattern to make this angry bird.

This time, I tried the Lovey Dovey.

 In the softest of fabrics evah. 

Once again, Abby's patterns are very clear, precise and lots of pictures. It was the first time I used a gusset. It's not scary at all. 

I'm keeping my eye out for other soft fabrics to make a different animal next. There are four different animals in this pattern set. Great deal!

We're all a little under the weather here. Not enough to put you in bed to rest, but enough to not want to do anything, just relax, but the guilt factor gets you up to do something. I highly recommend Riccola throat thingys. Cured me a few times today and it's tasty too!

Have a good one,

Amanda